MILITARY veterans and their families are to be given extra support to combat mental-health problems.

A new report presented to Bury Health and Wellbeing Board emphasises the need for Bury Council and other organisations to give veterans a helping hand as they are particular prone to developing psychological problems after leaving the Armed Forces, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Research by the military charity Combat Stress says that veterans wait 13 years after service on average before seeking help.

The number of people seeking help from the charity was 2,264 last year — a 28 per cent increase on the previous year — and most served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Twenty nine ex-servicemen and women killed themselves in 2012 after returning home from service in Afghanistan.

A nationwide review focusing on how the mental health of veterans and their families is assessed was carried out last year and concluded in October.

After hearing from 28 veterans and their loved ones, 20 charity representatives and 23 health bosses, the 54-page report concluded that there were currently 'gaps' that sometimes prevented veterans from getting the help they need.

To fill the gap, the report recommends using three 'building blocks' — finding out who the veterans are, giving them the treatment they may need and involving them and their relatives in that treatment.

The first step will be a nationwide awareness campaign in the spring, led by NHS England.

"This will, in turn, improve the quality and accuracy to the joint, strategic needs assessment (of the health and wellbeing board)," the report says.

The report was presented to the health and wellbeing board's most recent meeting at the town hall on January 28 and was presented by Dr Peter Jackson.

Bury Council and various Bury health authorities have also been asked to come up with ideas for how to better identify the health needs of veterans and their families.

In February 2013, the council introduced the 'military covenant', which pledges to offer an enhanced level of support on subjects like employment and housing to military veterans.

The covenant's steering group meets every four to six weeks, featuring representatives of organisations including the council, the NHS, the Department for Work and Pensions and Six Town Housing.